As an avid Gnashblade supporter and fan of the living story, I have been…disappointed with the election statistics. I have nothing against Kiel supporters, as many did carry legitimate reasons backing their decision. However, in the interest of future playerbase-voting, I would like to take a look at the big picture. Many others have stated my thoughts better than I could, so I will simply quote them:
-Shiren-
“When it comes to MMOs, the vast majority of players never visit forums or websites outside of the game. You frequently hear community managers and developers talk about forums and that very few of the players actually participate in them. The same goes for information pages on the website (such as the one which informs players of the election promises). Forum posters don’t accurately represent the majority of players.
The current results can be very easily explained. The majority of players (who never look for information outside of the game) never read the election promises. They might be given a run down in game by someone else, but they don’t visit the election page. More importantly, these same players barely know who Evon is. Kiel was the featured hero for most of this year’s content. She’s a familiar race, a familiar face and she plays the generic and unoffensive “good hero” archetype. She’s also an attractive female. Then we have Evon, who is only just introduced and every chance they got, the writers wrote him as a villain. He was a very offensive character to many people (this same offensive element makes him appealing to a smaller group of people) and was new to the story. Kiel barely developed at all in her time in the spotlight, but Evon wasn’t given the chance to develop before he was put in a popularity contest. Of course he is going to lose.
The deck was stacked and it was an uphill fight for Evon to even come close. The Abaddon fractal helped, but the popularity contest was gift wrapped for Kiel, and that’s where the bulk of the votes are coming from."
Whether you agree with Shiren or not isn’t my concern. In future polls, I simply wish for A-net to equally introduce both sides into the story. As stated, Evon seemed to come out of nowhere, which did nothing to help bolster his fans. Also, don’t suggest one side as “bad” or “evil” as what was done to Gnashblade.
It’s nothing but a silly dream now, but I still hope Gnashblade will somehow win. As Katsumi Kei said:
“Just from the election cutscene you can see how weak and disorientated Kiel is, I can’t stand her. LA is governed by pirates, she is a soldier wannabe. For months she showed no character development and left no impression in any way, shape or form. Evon is newly introduced but showed cunning, confidence and effort. He is an Ash warband leader, been with the pirated for a long time…”
Hopefully Gnashblade will still play some important rolls even if he doesn’t make it in the council. Despite what may happen, I would still like to see him develop as a character and influence upcoming events.
Spirits guide you.